Gravitation Kids
by Kiyasha Hoshi
Summary: The NEXT generation of your favorite Gravitation characters......yes,you read it right. 50904: Chapter 4 is up!
1. Notice

Hello everyone! Kohiro here. I bet you're surprised to here from us. Yeah well, with more then half of us off to college and having little time…we're forced to stop this story before it really even got started. It was a hard decision; we loved writing this story as much as you enjoyed reading it. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it meant a lot to us.

Here's something that might be coming up in the future:

After all this time, I had the strange idea to do an Ask the Gang for Gravi. Kids. I'm currently getting opinions from the other authors, and you are more then welcome to send me your own. I'd like to see if other people are interested.

Thanks again,

Kohiro's author.


	2. FYI

Disclaimer: All characters from Gravitation belong to Maki Murakami and whoever else, I love you!!! The 

children all belong to me and my buddies.  The only purpose of this story is to hopefully amuse other Gravi. fans 

and to practice my writing skills.

Notes: "tou-san" = dad, the correct way to say it

"tou-chan" = a creation of my own, "father" but with the diminutive "chan" on the end, I would translate 

it as "little dad" ^v^

Hi, before I even begin, I guess I should introduce myself.  My name is Shindou Bakani. You may 

recognize part of it.  That's right; I'm the son of Shindou Shuichi.  And hold on, before you start pouring on the 

questions, I'll explain.  After all, for my story to make any sense you're going to need some background.  Just 

bear with me, I've never been the best writer, that's my tou-san's forte.  I've asked the others to help me out, 

too.  There's no way I could tell it all by myself.

I'm the son of Shindou Shuichi (tou-chan) and Yuki Eiri (tou-san).  Please don't ask how, its very technical 

and confusing.  And don't worry, I wasn't born out of one of them, I'm a test tube baby.  Now, I feel it necessary 

to explain my name, after all, it's _very_ unique.  Somehow, don't ask me how, I honestly don't know; when I was 

born dou-san got a premonition.  Looking at little tiny me in tou-chan's arms, he knew I was going to be just like 

my feminine, emotional tou-chan.  So he named me "bakani".  Baka means idiot, and ni is the number two.  Yes, 

my wonderful loving father named me "idiot number two".  The scary thing is it fits.  I am so similar to tou-chan 

that it hurts sometimes.  Luckily though, I didn't inherit his fashion sense, I feel no urges to dye my hair pink, and 

you'd never catch me in shorts _that short. _

No, tou-chan's fashion sense went to my baby brother.  That's right, there are _two _of us.  Koori's about 

two years younger than me, and is a smaller version of tou-san.  He's not quite as unfriendly, and I like to believe 

I've discovered a sense of humor buried in there, but there _is a reason his name means "ice"._

            The four of us make for a very interesting household.  We definitely have our fights, but I love them all very 

dearly.  Besides this strange family, I also have some others to introduce before I can begin.  First there's my best 

friend, Nakano Kohiroshi (that's Hiroshi Jr. for those of you who don't know).  Kohiro is awesome, just like his 

dad he's very laid back and a great friend.  Then, there's Sakuma Pika.  She lives in the US but we have a whole 

pen pal thing going on.  She's a riot, her letters always crack me up, but what else is to be expected from the daughter 

of the great Sakuma Ryuichi.

And last, but definitely not least, there's Fujisaki Ame.  Wow, how can I even describe her?  Ame is a genius, 

and pretty, and funny, and talented at everything, and wonderful, and....*sigh* very much annoyed by me.  She can be 

patient at times, but something about me just seems to get on her nerves.... maybe its because she's like her father and 

I'm like my tou-chan (they never get along).... or maybe its cause I never leave her alone.... 

Anyway, here's the story...


	3. Author's note

Author's note: Hello peoples ^-^ This's the writer for Bakani. In case you didn't know each character in the wonderful fic is written by a different person, each with their own thoughts and styles.... ooh, this may be hard to get the story to all flow together. But, we'll do what we can. If needed I'll bug the others into giving me control and tweak things so they fit, but I honestly hope I won't have to. In the beginning I was planning to write this all by myself o.o, imagine the whole story from Baka's point of view.... yeah, it wouldn't really work. So we all take turns ^-^, and then Kohiro's writer is the one that actually posts it for us. So how did this plot bunny strike you ask? I'll tell. I act like Shuichi. I'm not kidding, and a good friend of mine (the one that got me into Gravi) is just like Yuki. Ok, we're not EXACTLY like them, but there's definite resemblance. So we made ourselves their children. Then our friends began acting like other characters. Kurama puts up with me the way that Hiro puts up with Shuichi, etc.... behold: the birth of Gravi kids! It's been about a year since the Uesugi-Shindou brothers were brought into existence. A full year in which they and their world have grown and developed, and now it's finally time for it to be put down on paper. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it. I'll see what I can do about getting my drawing of the character online, k?  
  
Glossary: Tou-san- father Tou-chan- little father Kaa-san- mother Ototo-san- little brother Aishiteru- i love you Mangaka- manga artist/author Ite- Ow Umm, if there's any other random Japanese you don't know, just ask about it in a review, ok? 


	4. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:  **We don't own the main cast of Gravitation, but any of their children belong to us. This story was 

created and developed by a group of Otakus with too much time on their hands. And we wouldn't change a thing 

about it!! 

Bakani-

*beep*

hmm?

*beep*

"wha?"

*beep*

"no, wanna ~~~~*mumble*

*beep*

erg, someone kill it…

*beep*

oh wait…that's…  *sigh*

I reached over and shut off my alarm clock.  Erg, I didn't want to get up, but that's no different from any other 

morning.  I yawned, stretched, and tried to get a brush through my tangled hair.  Zombie-like, I dragged myself out 

of bed finally and unsteadily headed for the door.

            *thud*

            "Ite!" oops, there's a doorway there.  I made it eventually to the bathroom.

A little bit later, I was awake and ready to go downstairs: hot water's a wonderful thing.  I jumped the last few 

steps on the stairs just to show the world I had energy and was ready for another day…

            I probably shouldn't have done that… 

Nursing my injuries I proceeded to the kitchen.

            "Ohayo, Tou-chan!!" I called.

            "Ohayo, Bakani," he responded just as cheerfully.  "What was that crash I just heard?  You didn't fall 

down the stairs again, did you?"

            "Uh…well…"

            He shook his head "You need to be more careful – ite!"  Tou-chan spilled some hot coffee in his lap…-_- 

and people wonder where I get it from…

Tou-san, who was also sitting with a cup of coffee, just rolled his eyes and muttered something about 'the pot 

calling the kettle black'.

            "Ohayo, Tou-san" I said, sitting down with a bowl of cereal.

            "Ohayo, Bakani," He said calmly, glancing up at me from his newspaper with his golden eyes.  "Don't 

forget to wake your brother up."

            "Why do I have to?" I looked at Tou-chan, it was usually his job.  He had finished eating and was putting his dishes in the sink.

            "I'm sorry, Baka.  But I've gotta run.  We're recording at the studio today, and I've gotta be there on time 

or they'll kill me!!"

            This said he hugged me, kissed Tou-san, and hurried out toward the front door.  I sighed, I know better 

than to ask Tou-san to wake Koori up, so I was stuck with the job.

Leaving my cereal to its soggy fate, I got up and went back up the stairs (carefully, this time).  By the time 

I reached my little brother's door I'd decided that this might be more fun then I had thought at first…

Yes, it's dangerous to mess with Koori, he may be 2 years younger then me, but he takes after Tou-san.  

Tall, blonde, good-looking, and extremely intimidating.  While I take after our more feminine Tou-chan.  If it wasn't

 for the fact that we're related I'd be scared to go near him.  But he's my little brother, so I have certain 'obligations' to fulfill ^_^.

I threw open the door, and flipped on the light.

            "Ko~ori!  Rise and shine, oh dear baby brother!!" 

Sunshiney-cheerfullness from my voice echoed off the walls of his room, sounding a death-toll for my brother's sanity.

            I can be just as scary as him in my own little way…^_^

3…2…1…

                        "POUNCE!!"

My tackle was well aimed, I hit poor Koori dead-on.

            "Baka yaro!" he cussed at me, and I jumped off of him snickering.

            "Ashiteru, ototo-san!" I called sweetly dodging the pillows he hurled at me and escaping out the door.

            I knew I'd pay for it later, but it didn't change how much fun it was.  

            Downstairs, Tou-san raised an eyebrow at my giggling, but wisely decided not to ask.  It comes from living 

with Tou-chan (and me) for so many yeas.  I love my family…heehee…

            I started on my breakfast again, knowing I had to hurry.  Soon my best buddy Kohiro would be at the door, 

waiting to walk to school with my brother and I.

Note: while Bakani calls Shuichi "little dad" (Tou-chan), Koori just calls him "mom" (Kaa-san).  And the "shin-chan" 

Koori refers to in the entry is Bakani.  Also, the brothers' actual last name is Uesugi-Shindou, but for normal use they 

go by Shindou Bakani and Yuki Koori.

Koori-

I rolled my eyes heavenward and silently asked the Gods why they'd granted me such a dysfunctional 

family.  Two fathers (well, almost) and a *thing*.  If Bakani didn't act exactly like Kaa-san I'd call him the family pet.

Silently, I nodded good morning to Tou-san and snagged an English muffin before walking out the back 

door and into the woods behind our house.  When I reached the tree-line I allowed myself the luxury of several 

rather colorful words when I noticed I'd forgotten my sketchbook.

"Baka yaro! If he hadn't 'woken' me up…" I yelled in the general direction of our house.  I had been wide 

awake when my idiot big brother fell down the stairs.  Just because I drew better after nightmares…and I didn't 

want Bakani finding out about my ambitions to become a mangaka.  Of course I realized it wasn't my Kaa-san 

coming to wake me up so I had to literally dive into my bed and pray Bakani wouldn't notice the drawings scattered 

about my desk.  In my haste to leave the house I had forgotten the picture I wanted to show to Aki, too.  Sunlight 

steamed through the trees around me and I kicked a nearby bush.  While my shortcut to school was more efficient 

then the baka's, there was no time to turn around and fetch my sketchbook.  My only consolation was that Bakani 

would probably be late to his first hour class.  

I blinked and turned around to stare when the bush I had just kicked (and walked past) hissed at me.  As I 

watched a garter snake slithered out from the foliage, it bared its fangs at me.  

"Gomen, I didn't see you there," I said solemnly.

The snake hissed at me, and I stuck out my finger.  When it bit my finger I winced but lifted it up and cradled the 

snake to my chest.

            "Let's see if I can make it up to you, ne?" I whispered, and then started walking again.  After perhaps 

five minutes the snake relaxed into my arm.  I reached the back of the school near the dumpsters and wandered 

over to the school entrance.

            "Sneaking around as usual, Yuki?"  I heard a slightly irritated voice behind me.  Only one person I know 

calls me by my surname.  I quickly turned around and extended my snake-clad hand (which was still bloody).

            "Pet my snake!" I shouted.  Ame bounced back and almost screamed.  Hastily I put my snake back under 

my school uniform.

            "Sorry" I whispered to my small friend and he hissed angrily; I winced.  Ame narrowed her eyes at me.

            "Yuki!  Why do you have to be so immature?!"  She shouted.  I pet my snake and tried to hold back a 

sarcastic comment.

            "And the way you make fun of Shin-chan because you want to get in his pants isn't?"  Oops.  Well, I 

tried to keep that one down, really I did.  Ame went bright red and stomped away.  Apparently she reached 

someone she knew because I heard screaming.

            Aki ran around the side of the school building in a foul mood.

            "Did you have to piss Ame off?"  She complained.  I shrugged and threw the Japanese equivalent of  

'Guitar World' at her.  Instantly she brightened.

            "Is this the...?"  She asked.  I nodded.  Aki squealed and turned to the exclusive interview with a look 

akin to someone who sees their God.  With Aki that was pretty close.  After all she did have a Hiro-shrine…

"Haven't you read that before?"  I asked.  Absently she nodded.

"Seven times" I sighed and pet my snake again.

"What's got you so cheerful this morning?" She asked.  I twitched.

" I was drawing a picture and got distracted.  Left it at home."  Aki shrugged.

"So?" She asked.

"I don't know.  It's…important to me." I muttered.  Aki laughed and stroked the magazine.  

"OoooOOh!  What's it of?"  She asked.

"A guy."  I said.  Aki giggled.

"Aww! Does my little Koori-kun have a crush?" She said in a sing-song voice.  I blushed and looked down.

"Not really.  He's like…a memory from a dream…" I tried to explain with minimal success.  Aki raised an 

eyebrow at me.

"You  been watching Disney films again?"

"What?"

"Nevermind"

Kohiro-

I woke up to a new day courtesy of one of those wonderfully annoying inventions called an Alarm Clock.  

After I turned the darn thing off, I could hear my father playing his guitar downstairs.  After I had been 'officially' 

awoken (via-the shower) I went downstairs and had a simple breakfast of cereal.  

            As I ate, having nothing better to do at the moment, I watched my dad play with the talent that comes from 

years and years of practice.  

            That kind of talent must skip generations; I'm entirely lost when it comes to playing a guitar.  Though, 

strangely enough, I've been told that I can sing as well as Sakuma-san, where as my dad couldn't keep a tune if his 

life depended on it; just like Bakani.  Trust me, I unfortunately know rather well…-_-

            Speaking of which, I decided to hurry up with breakfast and pick Bakani up early.  Yesterday we were late, 

which made Koori pissed at me (per usual), and I was determined not to have a repeat.

            I said goodbye to my dad and headed over to Bakani's house.  Bakani answered the door, said goodbye to 

Yuki-san, and then the both of us headed off to school.  We had almost reached the school when I realized that 

Koori wasn't with us.

            "What happened to Koori?  He usually walks with us."

            "It's a long story" Bakani replied grinning, he added "I got to wake Koori up today."

Koori and I don't get along, but I know him well enough to know that he is not  a morning person.

            "Again?  Baka, you know what happened last time you did that!"

            "Yeah, but I'm still alive aren't I?" he replied waving me off as if it was no problem at all.  I had been 

about to comment on his lack of concern, when Ame rushed by, anger clear on her face.  She didn't even say hello

or give any indication that she knew us; she went through the school doors heading to our first hour class.  

            I frowned as I heard Bakani's depressed sigh behind me.  Forcing a smile on my face I called over my shoulder 

"C'mon Baka!  Let's get to class or we'll be late again!"  He nodded.  I was grateful he didn't start crying…people pick 

on him enough as it is…  We made it to class with about 2 seconds to spare.  Great…another test -_-.  I finished it in 10 

minutes and put my head down on the desk to get a few more minuets of sleep.  If there's one thing my dad and I have in 

common, it's our intelligence.  I managed at an early age to pick up his study habits.  Now, school is so easy, it's boring. 

The free time also allowed me to think about the situation between Ame and Bakani.  I, of course, didn't tell Baka, but Ame 

was still talking to me.  He's my best friend, and telling him would only have depressed him more.  Dealing with her has been 

one migraine after another; the minute I mention Baka's name she changes the subject.  After many failed attempts, I labeled 

it as a lost cause and gave up.

            The bell rang and the teacher collected our tests.  Bakani came over to me, smiling again and looking rather pleased 

with himself, and told me that he actually managed to finish his test this time.  I shook my head but gave a real smile this time.  

Having Baka around could sure make your day!

Ame-

(music notes) "Uhh…"  The music continued until I finally dragged myself out of bed and turned off my clock radio, 

"Urg."  Damn clock.  Grabbing my robe and a clean pair of underclothes I made my way down to the bathroom,

 making sure to grab a towel along the way.  Ahh.  The feel of hot water…  Nothing better than waking up to a 

nice, hot- "Ame?  Honey?  Hurry it up.  There are other people who want to use the shower this morning."  

"Alright, alright.  I'll be out in a minute."  Sheesh.  Sometimes Dad can be just a little annoying, and this 

early in the morning…he'd better have coffee.  I finally made my way out of the bathroom and to my room so I 

can get dressed for the day.  45 minutes later I was at school.  What was Yuki doing behind the dumpster?  

            "Sneaking around as usual Yuki?"

            "Pet my snake!"  

"Ahhhh!! You jerk!  Get that thing out of my face!"  Then Yuki said stuff to me that I don't even want to 

think about.  I left thinking of various ways to kill him.  "Hi Ame."  "Hi kiki."

"Uck. Why is Shindou looking at you that way?  It's so gross."

            "I don't care.  Let's just get to class"

 I got into class and what's the first thing I have to do?  Take a math test.  *sigh* Why can't these tests take longer 

then 15 minutes to complete?  Oh well.  At least I now have about 40 minutes or so to study for history.  Wait, Baka 

was looking at me?  Again?  Why can't he just leave me alone?  He'd follow me everywhere if he had the chance.  

He's like a love sick puppy.  Why doesn't he understand that I just want to be left alone?  I just want-

*BRIIING*

Damn.  No studying done either.  Stupid Baka.

            "Hey Ame.  Let's get going!"

            "Yeah Ame.  If we leave now we won't have to worry about running into Ba-"

            "Hi, Ame."  How did he get here so fast?

            "Baka, this isn't even your next class.  What do you want?"

Bakani looked hurt.  "I just wanted to say hi.  You didn't even say hi to me this morning."  I just sighed.

"Hi Baka.  Are you going to class now, or are you going to continue blocking the doorway?" 

            "Bakani.  Get out of the way." I watched as Kiki shoved Baka out of the way. 

            "Come on Ame."  Sasha said.  I heard her mutter something at Baka about being gay.   

            "Bye, Bakani.  I'll see you later."  I passed Baka and gave him a tiny smile.  Bakani brightened up instantly. 

            "Bye Ame!  See you later!  Did you hear that Kohiro?!  Ame said 'See you later!'  She said that to me!"

            "Okay, Bakani.  I get it, come on, let's go."

As I went to class I couldn't help but smile a bit.

            "What's up Ame?" Kiki asked.

Sasha piped in "What's so funny?"

            "Nothing.  Never mind."  Bakani, you're an idiot.  Just like your name.  Erg, you drive me crazy.

  
  



	5. Chapter 2

Hey peoples!!  This is Kohiro here!  Well, we finally got the second chapter all typed up, thanks to Bakani and 

Ame!  I got the easy job of submitting it here and Koori did the usual job of writing a wonderful entry! (I gotta 

include everyone or it's rude)  I also want to list the wonderful people who reviewed our story and answer a few

 questions.

Disclaimer:  The Gravitation Kids was mostly developed by the creative minds of Koori and Bakani.  The rest 

of us went along for the ride.  The original characters of Gravitation used in this story belong to their brilliant 

\Author and not us.  

Reviews:  Thank you all!

Anime_earth

Bakani - ^ ^ I find it funny that even the characters review their own story. (Just an insightful thought)

Keitorin

Koori – I'll choose to ignore those comments….

KuraiMoon

Lil Yaten Fae

Matsu Shindou – Yes I can, as a matter of fact.  I don't tell anyone because I always get weird looks when I 

do…..just kidding ^ ^ . 

Mnemosyne1 – We appreciate the support and Bakani enjoyed your review, by the way. ^ ^

Pika/Willow – Arigatou, Pika-chan!!!  I'm happy you liked the way the story is going!!!

Shounen-Ai Polterguist

Trevtrev

****

**Bakani:**

            Ame smiled at me!  ^v^  Yes, its pathetic to be this happy, but still...

            She avoids me.  Kohiro tries to hide it from me, he doesn't want me to be hurt.  But I know.  How 

could I not?  More and more, she hangs out with those other girls instead of Koori, Kohiro, and I.  But, I know 

she still talks to Kohiro (and even sometimes Koori, and they're never gotten along).  I also know what those 

girl friends of hers say about me...

            I pushed back the tears that were threatening to spill.  One escaped down my cheek and I quickly 

            wiped it away before Kohiro could notice.

            The day passed quickly.  Lunchtime came and went: 

            "Ne, Kohiro!  What're you hiding?"

            "Uh, um, eh?  Nothing!"

            "I wanna see!"

            "Oi, Baka!  Get off.  Ow.  Let go already!"

            "No!  almost..... hah!  Got it!"

            "Hey!"

            "Oooooh!  Pocky!  Can I have some?"

            "I guess... -.-  a little..."

            "Yay!  Arigato!"

            "Hey, Baka!  I said 'a little' not half the box.  Here, give that back!"

            "But, Kohi- oops!"

                        *crunch* . . . 

            "gomen..."

            "*sigh* I knew this was going to happen, that's why I was hiding it.  -.- "

Koori didn't try to get his revenge yet, but whenever I looked at him he glared at me.  Actually, he 

forgot about it for a little during lunch because he got caught up in an argument with Kohiro.  He made up for it, 

though, in our next class together by glaring at me even when I wasn't looking at him.  It's really hard to 

concentrate when you feel that icy gaze piercing through you. 

Maybe if I gave him a hug he'd stop loathing my existence quite so much.  Then again, it might just make

 things worse.

After school, I considered keeping Ame to her promise of 'seeing me later', but I decided against it.  

She probably wouldn't be pleased to see me and I didn't feel like going through all of that and becoming 

depressed right now.  'Later' could wait for a different day... maybe tomorrow ^-^.  

I also didn't want to stay around the house.  Avoiding the little brother when he's out for blood is a 

natural survival instinct of the Bakani.  So I went to Kohiro's house.

"No one's home but you?"  I asked looking around his quiet house.

"Yeah.  My tou-san's recording with your tou-chan and Am- uh, Fujisaki-san."   I didn't comment on 

his avoidance of Ame's name, I know he's just worried for me.  "And my kaa-san's visiting her parents in 

Kyoto."

"What about the little ones?"  Kohiro's little siblings.

"Oh, they're still in school.  When they come home, though, you get to help me baby-sit."  He smiled 

cheerfully and I sighed.  I should charge him for it, with all the times he gets me to help watch them.  

"Hey Kohiro," I grinned at him, "why don't you come over and help me baby-sit my little brother?"

He looked at me for a second, and then we both burst out laughing.

"He would kill you if you tried, Baka."

"Now, now, Koori."  I imitated a stern voice.  "Make sure you finish up all your dinner.  And no 

staying up past your bedtime young man, or tou-san will give you such a spanking!"  Somehow I 

managed a straight face.  Kohiro almost fell over laughing.

"Baka, you're pretty good at that.  The theatre company's auditioning for the play, you should try out." 

He managed after calming down a bit.

"You think?"

"Yeah!  Definitely."

"Hmmm, maybe.... knowing me I'll just make a fool of myself."

Kohiro put an arm around me.  "Just think of it this way: The whole school already knows how big a 

fool you are, you've got nothing to lose."

"Gee, thanks a lot..."

"Tadaima!"  I called, coming in the door at home.  No answer.  I popped my head into Tou-san's study 

where he was sitting in front of his computer.

"Tadaima, Tou-san."

"Okaeri."

"Where's Koori?"

"In his room."

Phew.  Good, at least I won't run into him, he'll probably stay in there.  The evening went by.  It was 

late before Tou-chan finally came home. 

"Tadaima."  He announced tiredly.  Tou-san, who had been relaxing in the living room, stood up and 

went to greet him.  Tou-chan practically collapsed into Tou-san's arms.

I smiled at them from my place on the stairs.

"Oyasumi."  I whispered, careful not to disturb the little isolated world my parents had just gone into.  

For all their differences they really love each other.  I snuck back up the stairs to my room.

**Koori:**

"ACHOOO!"  I sneezed.  Ow, that hurt.  Absently I rubbed my nose.  I seem to be coming down with 

a bad cold, I remember having a horrible sneezing fit yesterday.

            "Well, at least I'll have an excuse to stay home tomorrow..."  I muttered to my pet snake.  He seems to 

like me as much as I like him.  Or is it a her?  How do you tell a snake's gender anyway?

            Anyway, my snake ignored me and continued soaking up the sun's rays.

            "Good idea."  I agreed and went back to dozing.  Why bother with math class anyway?  The teacher's 

brand new out of college and very easily persuaded that I should pass.  Showing up in class isn't necessary.  

I heard a thud on the rooftop.  A good eye-roll was required.  What did she want now?  Carefully, I 

schooled (puns are evil .) my face into my best 'What the hell do you want?' face and rolled to the edge of 

the roof.  I stuck my head over the edge and glared at my teacher: a typical beauty.  Quiet, demure... I made a 

face.  How boring could you get?  The sensei blushed and stuttered out her message.

"Ah... you see...Yuki-kun...the bell..."  The bell signaling the next class rang.

"Why didn't you say so?"  I growled, and as I scrambled up to the roof I saw her shrink back.  I 

grabbed my snake off his spot on the roof and my pack, then flung myself back in the window.  I actually had to 

go to my next class, the teacher's a total pain in the ass.  Just one more thing... I turned to my sensei.

"Thank you..."  I said in my best 'charming' voice.  The teacher looked like she was in shock.  I never 

get why that happens.  I just assume it's because I look like my tou-san.  Hey, if it means I don't have to waste 

time in a stuffy classroom: power to me.  I waved in front of my sensei's face, but nothing happened.  I sighed 

and pushed her out of the classroom to wait for my history teacher.  He's such a stiff.

"Hey Koori!"

"Hey Aki."

"Did you remember that picture?"  Aki asked.  I sighed and pet my snake.  I really need to get him a 

name

"Nope."  I murmured.  Aki flopped down next to me in the park.

"Jeez!  That's the second day in a row!"  She complained.

"You finished photo-copying Hiro's interview?"  I asked.  And waited.  Aki had gone into worship mode, 

and her eyes were already glazing over.

"Hello?  Aki?  This is earth.  Have you been here before?"  I frantically waved a hand in front of her 

face.  Last time this happened I had to take her home.  Shudder.  Luckily my mission was a success; Aki 

smacked me upside the head.

**Kohiro:**

            It's sometimes nice when you're the only one home.  I could read over the lines for the part I wanted to 

do in the play and no one would distract me.  I wanted to make sure that I had them memorized because the 

tryouts were the next day.

            I had finished all my homework in an hour.  I could've finished it sooner but I actually had some trouble 

on my math.  Math is probably my weakest subject in school; getting the concept is easy enough, but I have a 

little trouble applying it.

            School was boring and uneventful, as usual, except for the argument I had with Koori at lunch.  I know 

it's mean, but its fun to get a reaction out of the guy other than his normal expression of being bored and annoyed 

at the same time.  And I lost most of my Pocky to Bakani...

            I had just finished going through all the lines for my part, when I heard the doorbell ring.  It wasn't too 

hard to figure out who it was: my family wouldn't ring the doorbell at their own house, so I knew it had to be 

Bakani coming to see me.  

            Sure enough, there he was, smile and all.

            He looked around confused and asked "No one's home but you?"

            "Yeah, my tou-san's recording with your tou-chan and Am- uh, Fujisaki-san, and my kaa-san's visiting 

her parents in Kyoto."  I mentally slapped myself.  Many people think Bakani is dense, but I know he's not.  

Just like I know that he easily caught my slip of the tongue in my attempt to avoid Ame's name.  Though, to my 

relief, he acted as if I had never said it.

            "What about the little ones?"

            "Oh, they're still at school.  When they come home, though, you get to help me baby-sit."  I smiled 

cheerfully.  I always have Bakani help with babysitting.  I learned long ago that to baby-sit alone is setting 

yourself up for trouble when it comes to twins.  Why might you ask?  Two against one was never good odds, 

even more so when you have two hyper-active children and a decent-sized house.  Besides, the twins like Bakani.

            Bakani looked over at me grinning.  "Hey Kohiro, why don't you help me baby-sit my little brother."

            We looked at each other, and I, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably, burst out laughing 

along with Bakani.

            "He would kill you if you tried..."  ...That and I can't stand being around him, even for the small amount 

of time that I am.

            "Now now Koori, make sure you finish up all of your dinner.  And no staying up past your bedtime, 

young man, or Tou-san will give you such a spanking!"  He said all this in a stern voice and with a straight face.  

I was amazed at his acting skills.  Here I'd known Bakani all my life and only then did I find this hidden talent of 

his.

            "Baka, you're pretty good at that!  The theatre company's auditioning for the play, you should try out."  

It would be great if he got a part!  Maybe it would help boost his confidence a little.

He looked at me, surprised.  "You think?"

            "Yeah!  Definitely."

            "Hmmm, maybe... knowing me, I'll just make a fool of myself."

            I put an arm around his shoulders and grinned at him playfully.  "Just think of it this way: the whole 

school already knows how big a fool you are, you've got nothing to lose."

            He gave me an annoyed look.  "Thanks a lot..."

Just about then the twins came home and kept us too busy to talk about it more.

**Ame:**

            "Tada—"  Wait. No one's home.  Sigh.  Every single day…………Would it kill Dad to come home in 

the afternoon before me?  Probably. Oh well. 

I set my books on the Kitchen table only to find a note from Dad:

            'Hi sweetheart.  I hope you had a pleasant day at school.' Huh. I wish. 'Shuichi, Hiroshi, and I will be 

working late tonight.  I'm not quite sure what time I'll be home.  You can start dinner at 6:00 tonight as 

usual, but I'm not sure if I'll be home to join you.  Have a good afternoon and evening.  I'll see you later 

tonight or tomorrow morning.

Love, Dad.'

            Sigh.  "Yet again, another evening alone."  Oh well……

            Plopping down on the couch, I pulled the blanket that resides on it around my waist.  The History of 

Japan.  As if I haven't read enough text books on our history all these years.  What the hell, lets read another 

one!!!!!!!  Urg. Emperor this……I snuggled deeper into the couch, getting all nice and cozy warm.  Farmers 

that………As I read I could feel my eyelids drooping and my head getting heavier and heavier, but I didn't 

care.  I really had no desire to read history at that moment anyway.  Samurai…….

"……It's been so long since I last saw you.  I had begun to wonder if you would have forgotten about 

me while you were gone."

            "Your smile, your laugh, your humor. How could I? Your gorgeous brown eyes, your beautiful skin, 

your soft lips…….." The last word was ended with a gentle kiss.  "I would die before I would ever 

allow the mere thought of forgetting you even enter my mind.  I love you."

            "And I you."  

            The two kissed once more, but what started out as a kiss turned into a madly passionate feeling of 

ecstasy.  Robes were undone and slid down bodies.  "Let me have you…………….."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  I sat up 

faster than ever before, panting so hard I thought I was going to start hyperventilating.  I clung to my chest, 

afraid that if I didn't my heart would pound its way out. 

            What the hell………That's the third time in the last two weeks that I've had that stupid dream.  Why is 

it that I don't ever have any other dream like that and the one that I always happen to have has me and Bakani 

in it?  Dizzy……Maybe I should lie back down for a bit.

            "Tadaima!"  Dad's home?  What time is it?  I looked at the clock that occupied the wall to my right.  

7:30!? CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!! I jumped off of the couch and almost hit Dad.

            "There you are Ame.  I was wondering were you were.  What happened to dinner?" 

            Sorry.  I fell asleep on the couch while trying to read that stupid history book.  It really is incredibly 

            oring."

            Dad laughed. "Aren't textbooks suppose to be? Come on. Let's go out for dinner tonight."

            "Good thinking Dad."  I got my coat from the closet and followed Dad out the door all the while 

thinking about that stupid dream.  Sigh.  Every time I have that dream I wake up feeling dizzy and lightheaded, 

but not in a bad way.  Why………


	6. Chapter 3

Hey peoples!!  This is Kohiro here!  The third chapter is up! I bet all of you were wondering if it ever would....  

Anyway, as usual, each author typed great entries and we also have a new character that you will meet later!  

We all hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer:  The Gravitation Kids was mostly developed by the creative minds of Koori's writer and Bakani's 

writer.  The rest of us went along for the ride.  The original characters of Gravitation used in this story belong to 

their brilliant Author and not us.  

Bakani-

            -nervously, he takes a deep breath to steady his nerves.  It's a dangerous challenge but he's determined 

to give it a shot-

            I approached Ame in the hallway in the brake between classes.  Her friends noticed my presence with 

dirty looks and snickering whispers to each other.

            -the obstacles loom forbiddingly in his path.  Undaunted, he charges forward-

            "Ame?"

             "What is it Bakani?" She said impatiently.  I looked down at my feet, embarrassed.

            "Could you…could you tutor me after school?" I could feel the girls staring at me.  They giggled at me, 

I was so stupid I needed tutoring.

              "Bakani…can't you just have Kohiro help you like he usually does?  I really don't have the time to 

waste on it, I got loads of work form my honors courses."  Point blank rejection.

            -and he trips over his own feet!  This is looking bad folks…-

            "Kohiro's at the auditions after school.  And I'm really not doing well in Trig…please, Ame?  I have a 

huge test tomorrow."

            -oh, wait, wait…and yes he's back on his feet.  What a recovery!-

            "Well…"

            "C'mon Ame.  It won't take long.  Besides do you have anything else to do?"

            -the finish line is in sight…-

            "No…" She admitted grudgingly.

            -he's closer, closer…-

            "So can you tutor me?"

            "Fine.  You can come over my house after school."

            -GOAL!!  Yes, this is unbelievable!  It was looking pretty bad for a bit back there, but our champion 

stuck it through all the way to the finish.  Just look at his face, practically glowing with the light of victory-

            "Thank you!!!!"  My smile was so big it felt like my face might split in half.  "See you after school Ame!"  

The bell was ringing to go back to class.

            "Yeah, see you."  There was a notable lack of enthusiasm in her voice.

            School ended and I met up with Ame.  She was rather cold, just saying "come on" and heading off 

down the street without a backward look.  I hurried to follow.  Both my house and Ame's are  walking distance 

from the school, but in opposite directions.  Once we arrived at her house she moodily slung her backpack off 

her shoulders and threw it onto the couch.

            "What are you so mad about?" I questioned.  A simple and innocent question that really didn't deserve 

the glare it got from her.

            "I'm not mad." She snapped.  Wow, so convincing - . –

            "So she says while grinding her teeth and with her hands curled into fists." I responded raising an eyebrow.

            "Shut up, baka."

            "Me? You want cute, little innocent me to 'shut up'?" I grinned ridiculously at her.  With how stupid I 

looked how could she not laugh? ^_^

            She just looked at me and shook her head in irritation.

            "This is why I can't stand you…you're such a child."  Ouch.  Okay, that's how she could not laugh. 

            "I just wanted to cheer you up…sheesh, some people." I muttered.

            "Do you want me  to tutor you or not?"

            "Yes!  I'll behave, I promise!" I really did need her help.

Ame is sooo smart.  We got to work on my Trig and bit by bit her coldness faded.  With utter confidence she 

helped me pick out the spots I was having problems with and explained them.  She was sweet and encouraging 

as she guided me though it.  I wanted to stay in this moment forever: The Ame I had always known had come 

back.

            But, all too soon, it was over.  She went and got some of her own homework and brought it to the 

table.  Now that I was ready for the test, I had nothing else to do.  So I looked at Ame.  Sighing, I watched her 

as she  worked, noticing the gleam of the sunlight from the window on her dark hair.  Her lips moved ever so 

slightly as she read, her deep, knowing eyes scanning the page in front of her.  She was so beautiful.

            Suddenly she looked up at me sharply.

            "Bakani, stop looking at me." She commanded accusingly.

            "Uh…hai…"I said weakly, my face flushing in embarrassment.

To distract myself I dug through my backpack and pulled out a box of Pocky. ^_^  Opening the box I began to 

munch.

                        *crunch, crunch*

Ame twitched a little and looked up.

            "Want some?" I offered.  She shook her head and went back to her work.  Oh well, her loss…

                        *crunch, crunch*

mmm, Pocky ^_^

                        *crunch, crunch*

            "Bakani!"  …uh-oh…timidly I glanced at her.  For a moment she was about to explode, but then she 

just sighed.

            "n?" I asked.

            "Don't you have someplace else you could go?"

            "Nope, *crunch, crunch* Kohiro's at the auditions, and Koori's in the park with Aki (he doesn't like 

me tagging along).  That just leaves you." I smiled at her cheerfully, a Pocky stick protruding from my mouth.

            "Well, what about your other friends.  Why not hang out with one of them?"

            I blinked, then thought for a second.

            "Ame, I don't have any other friends." I pointed out.  Her eyes widened.  She looked truly shocked 

and also kind of sad.

            "Bakani…"  I was rather surprised by how shaken she was.  But, I just shrugged and went back to my 

Pocky.  Contentedly I munched away, savoring the chocolate.  I was happy with my life, I mean: quality over 

quantity.  I loved the friends I had.

                        *crunch, crunch*

I snuck a peek at Ame.  She was working again.  But every once in a while she'd glance up at me.  And she 

didn't seem to be annoyed by my crunching anymore…

Koori-

            I glared at Aki.  Aki glared back.  I handed her a piece of paper with a face akin to a captain 

surrendering their ship.  Aki promptly glanced down, glared at me, then fell over laughing.

            I sighed and only felt slightly better when Aki complained about hurting her brain on the pavement.  I 

turned away from Aki and pulled my snake out of my shirt.  The poor thing was shivering.  I should stay home 

tomorrow to take care of him.  My snake is officially a him now.  The snake slithered up my arm and bit me on 

the inside of my elbow, I winced.  

            "I know I deserved that Neko-chan…but it hurt." I muttered at my sleeve.

            "Neko-chan?" Aki asked laughing.  I nodded sagely at her.  I had just come up with it myself.  Aki 

covered her mouth like she was trying to hold in more laughter.  

            "What's so funny?" I complained.  Aki raised an eyebrow

            "You wanted to show me this?  It's hardly your best work, in fact, it down-right sucks.  Looks like you 

drew it in the dark."  I winced at that.

            "I did." I murmured coldly.  I had drawn the sketch early in the morning after a nightmare I didn't 

remember.  Aki rolled her eyes, "That explains a lot about the quality.  I can't believe you find some mediocre 

drawing so important.  Even I've never done something that dumb, and I PMS, not you."  Aki looked me over.

            "What's got you so…emotional?" She asked.  I shrugged and turned away.  My best friend was right.  

It had taken me three days of 'forgetting' to work up the nerve to bring in that sketch.  And it sucked.  The 

more I tried to fix it the worse my sketch had gotten.  I just lost the feeling.

            I turned around quickly and reached for my drawing angrily.  Aki didn't understand and there was 

nothing I could do to change her mind.  Just then a gust of wind blew the paper out of my grasp.  This in itself 

was not unusual, God enjoyed ruining my life.

            What was unusual was someone had stopped to pick up my sketch.  Not just any someone, mind you.  

The someone of the hour, a young man identical to the one in my sketch.  Though the real version was much 

cuter then my sketch.  I shook my head in an attempt to clear that thought.

            'Not a good time to be checking out the locals, Koori' I thought.

            Aki looked from my dead-fish impression to the other bishonen's morbidly sarcastic grin.  I gulped.

            'Please, if there is a God…'

            "Koori!  I didn't know you had a stalker fetish!"

            'keep Aki from…oh, nevermind' No more organized religion for me.  I tried to salvage…something.

            "Come now, even I have better taste then to stalk this…" I eyed the bishounen up and down for good 

measure.  Yum.

            "…thing." I finished in my best "bastard" tone.  That went well.  The young mean glared at me.

            "It's not my fault you can't draw.  I bet a kindergartener would have drawn a closer likeness." The 

young man scoffed.  I winced.  'note to self; never piss off random people in the park unless you want to get 

burnt.'

            'wait…did he just call my work kindergarten-level?'  Something clicked.  The park, the freak gust of 

wind, the insult…

            I jumped off the park bench, snatched back my sketch and….cracked.

            "OH NO YOU DON'T!  I'M NOT GONNA FALL FOR THAT ONE!" I screamed, and Aki 

backed away.  The young man didn't he advanced and glared right back  at me.

            "When I said you had zero talent, I mean it," He said again, slightly amused.  I twitched.

            "No, you don't understand.  I've been hearing this story before bed since I could understand 

Japanese!"  I said intensely.  The young man raised an eyebrow.  I shook my head.

            "Honestly.  Now you've gone and done it.  We too will be drawn together by some inexplicable force.  

It'll be romantic, for fuck's sake!" I shuddered.  I wasn't going to even explain the elevator.

            "And the costumes…banana, battery, and puppy costumes!  And eventually one of us will end up 

cro-"I stopped and shut my mouth quickly.  Aki looked confused.

            "Just like my parents…" I added.  Now Aki looked plain scared.  The sickeningly kawaii 

circumstances were something I avoided thinking about, so naturally Aki had never heard about them.

            My brain finally realized what my mouth had dome in it's absence.

            'Oh dear…' There was only one thing to do.  I ran.

Aki caught up with me outside my neighborhood.

            "You do realize that was our new transfer student Koori-kun…" She said after she caught her breath.

            I buried my face in my hands.  "I will be home sick tomorrow."  I told Aki, then ran home and got a 

good solid oak door between myself and my best friend.  Tou-san glanced around the hallway corner.

            "You don't want to know." I muttered.    

Kohiro-

            Well, the first day of auditions were over with and they went better then I thought they would.  I walked 

out of the school with no real destination in mind.  Bakani was with Ame, for once, getting help with his trig. I 

was really surprised when Ame agreed to tutor him….. (sweat drop) hopefully her patience would cut him 

some slack…

            I didn't really feel like going home to an empty house, so I decided to visit my dad at work.  I walked 

in the large building of N. G. Corporation and waved to the receptionist at the front.  She knew who I was 

from earlier visits (and that I look a lot like my dad…).  She warned me that Bad Luck was still doing some last 

minute recordings and that things might be a little hectic up there (as if it never is…).  I had just stepped out of 

the elevator of the floor that Bad Luck worked on, when the sound of a gunshot echoed off the walls.  If there 

were other people on the floor that heard it, they gave no indication….or it could be the fact that it was daily 

occurrence and they were use to by now.  I was having second thoughts about going in there now; I wasn't too 

thrilled about the possibly of being target practice for K.  I went in anyways, and witnessed Shindou-san being 

strangled by Fujisaki-san.  Fujisaki stopped when I walked in (probably thought I was Seguchi-san or 

something…) and relaxed when he saw that it was just me.  Shindou-san greeted me with a big welcoming 

smile, happy to have an excuse to get away from Fujisaki's dangerous hands.  He answered my questioning 

look and told me that my dad was still in the recording room with Sakano-san and K.  With perfect timing, my 

dad walked into the room with his guitar.  He gave a smile when he saw me, "So, how'd the auditions go?"

            "Not bad.  I tried to convince Baka to come and tryout, but he wanted to be with Ame."

            The room suddenly became silent………….then I realized the BIG mistake I made.

            (sweat drop) foot-insert-mouth 

Fujisaki-san did a very scary impression of calmed interest, "Bakani is with…Ame?"

            (additional sweat drops) I waved my hands out at him "No, no, no, it's not like that!  She's helping him 

with his trig!" 

            ………………………….

            The room stayed silent for a while.

            "So.  You're trying out for the play Kohiro-kun?" Shindou-san's attempt to break the silence.

            "Yeah.  It seemed like fun so I thought I'd give it a try."

K and Sakano-san came in the room around that time.

            Sakano then spoke up, "What kind of play is this, Nakano-kun?"

            "More of a classical Horror play then anything else."

K raised an eyebrow, "Horror?  I didn't know they allowed that at school."

            I shrugged my shoulders "I guess"

After that I got to listen to what the group had recorded so far and they were pleased to receive a favorable 

response from me.  Even Fujisaki-san's mood seem to get better as they played.

I then looked up at the clock and realized I had been there for two hours and needed to be home soon so I 

could greet the twins when they came home.  I waved goodbye to all of them and then headed home. 

 Kioku-

            Needless to say, that was BY FAR the most awkward situation of my life.  All I did was state the guy's 

art sucked (and believe me, it sucked…the suckiness cannot be described by words alone), and he suddenly 

starts ranting about a romantic relationship between us, involving the most unusual circumstances I had ever 

heard of.  I had to stand in the middle of the park for a good 5 minutes to let it all sink in.  Then I laughed.  I 

think I laughed harder then than any other moment of my life, and probably more than I had any right to.  The 

look of sheer terror on the boy's face was just so…amusing.  Tears began rolling down my cheeks, and I felt 

short of breath.  I bit down on my tongue for a minute and calmed myself.  

            It was getting late, and I needed to get home.  Not that my "parents" would care.  They never do.  But I 

had better things to do than stand in the middle of a park and laugh my ass off.

            I took a decent stride during the walk home.  I wasn't in a particular rush, but I had a habit of speed 

walking.  Nothing to see on these streets that I haven't seen before, considering I take these walks every day.  I 

began to whistle the first song that popped into my head.  "Ryu's Theme" from Street Fighter 2.  That works.  

            I came to the doorstep of my house and pulled my key ring from my pocket.  After fumbling through my 

keys in the dark for a minute, I finally found the right one.   I unlocked the door and stepped inside.  

            "I'm home!" I yelled, but with no response.  

My "parents" were out, of course.  Probably wouldn't see them until morning, if I see them tomorrow at all.  Of 

course, they aren't my real parents.  I have been tossed from foster family to foster family from as far back as I 

can remember.  I climbed up the flight of stairs in front of my and stepped into my room.  Without even 

bothering to turn on the light, I merely sat down at my desk and turned my computer on.  

            I've never had anyone I can call a friend, so I've taken to electronics to pass my time.  Games, 

message boards, flash animation sites.  Anything to keep life from seeming like a complete waste.  Windows 

booted up, and I saw a few names appear in my AIM window.  I may not be popular with people personally, 

but I have many friends from around the world in cyberspace.  

            Some people say meeting your best friends on the internet is a pathetic way to live.  I say that they're 

people too, and can understand someone as well as anyone else.  I clicked on a name.  Maybe he would find 

today's misadventures humorous.

Kio-kun: j0.  You won't believe what happened to me today

Ame- 

            _No friends? The thought kept popping up in my mind.  __It never occurred to me that we were _

_Bakani's only friends. I looked at Bakani in a sideways glance.  *crunch, crunch*  He was going over the _

notes that he took while I was helping him and crunching on pocky.  Bakani looked up at me.  I quickly turned 

my head back down towards the work I was doing so that he didn't see me looking at him.

            "Ame?" he asked timidly "I know you already explained this problem to me, but, uh…..um, could, 

could you show me just one more time?

            I stared at him. "Again!  Baka! This is like, the third or fourth time! How hard can it be to grasp this 

concept?" I sighed "Right. I always forget that you and your dad are um……..that school never came easily to 

you guys."  Once again, I showed Bakani how to do the math problem.  

            "Thanks Ame." He looked really grateful. 

            We both went back to our own homework, but I couldn't concentrate.  As usual, I found myself 

thinking about Bakani.  Yes, as usual.  Not because he was sitting diagonally from me.  Sigh. I know how much 

trouble Bakani has when it comes to school.  He does try really hard……Maybe I should offer to help him 

more often………

            "Ame?"

            "Huh?! I mean what. I mean yes.  Yes. What do you want?"

            "Why were you staring at me?" NANI?!

            "Huh? Oh, I was, uh, just thinking. I'm sorry.  I didn't realize that I was looking in your direction 

Bakani."   Whew.  Nice recovery.  That could have turned ugly.

            "Oh, okay."  Bakani went back to his crunching.  Boy am I glad that Bakani's not that observant.  

Most of the time, that is.

            I turned back to my work and tried desperately to concentrate on my English.  It didn't work.  All right.  

Time to switch subjects.  Ah, physics. Equations…………laws…………Bakani…………

BAKANI?!?!?!?!?!?!  I slapped my forehead.  

            "What's wrong Ame?"  _No. This isn't happening to me._

            "Nothing.  Nothings wrong with me Bakani.  I just realized something I needed to do today that I forgot 

to do.  That's all."  Bakani didn't look as convinced as before, but he shrugged his shoulders and went back to 

the pocky while I went back to my physics and actually was able to concentrate on it.

            However, about half and hour later, I once again found myself looking at Bakani.  He really wasn't _that _

bad looking.  I mean, he certainly didn't look gay to me.  Dark brown hair that kinda falls were it wants to.  

Looks pretty soft as well.  Great smile too.  And his brilliant blue eyes…. He's actually pretty cute.  Huh.  I 

wonder why never realized that until just now……..? 

            Just than Bakani looked up. For some reason, I could only stare at him.  We looked at each other, 

leaning in closer and closer until our lips finally met. So soft……so sweet……so…

            "Ame? Ame!" 

            "HUH!?"  What the…….?

            "Ame, are you all right?"  Bakani looked genuinely concerned. "You were staring at me again.  Pretty 

intensely too"

            "I….uh….I….um….BAKANI! GO HOME!!!" I slammed my hands on the table and got up so fast 

the chair almost fell over.  Bakani looked at me in surprise.

            I blinked and stared at him.  I looked into his eyes and I saw worry and concern. For me.  Oh man.  I 

just sat down and put my head in my arms.  I didn't want him to see how red my face was.

            "Sorry."  My voice was barely audible, but Bakani heard me just the same.

            "Are you feeling okay?"  His voice was full of concern. 

            "I'm fine.  Just, tired, I guess."

            Bakani didn't believe me.  "Are you sure?"  Bakani got up and came around to my side.  He felt my 

for-head.  I was so startled that I jerked my head up and looked at him in shock.  Bakani just looked back at 

me.  He brought his face close to mine. Really close.  We were inches apart.  My heart was pounding like 

never before.  Then…….he put his cheek up against my for-head.

            "Tou-chan does this when he thinks that Koori or I have a fever."

            I blinked. 

            "Ame-chan! I'm—" Dad stopped in mid sentence and just stared at the scene in front of him.  In all of 

the _very recent events, I never heard the front door open.  Oh Boy._

            Bakani backed away. 

            "Dad, trust me, it's not what you think."            

"Uh…..Ame-chan?  What is….uh…….Shindou-kun still doing here ?"  I could tell that Dad was trying 

really hard to stay calm.  His hand was twitching.  

"Konichiwa Fujisaki-san" Bakani cheerfully said while rubbing the back of his head. 

"Dad, Bakani was just leaving. Weren't you Bakani?  Of course you were."  With that said led, okay, more like 

pushed, Bakani out of the kitchen and to the door. 

"Bye Bakani.  Go home." 

"Bye Ame.  Thanks again." 

"Yeah. Bye."  With that said, I closed the door.  

"So, did you and Shindou-kun have fun?" Dad had trouble getting the last part of that sentence out.  

Unfortunately for me, his facial expression was unreadable.  What the hell was I suppose to say to him?  

"Fun?  I spent most of my afternoon with Baka.  How could that be fun?"  With that said, I grabbed my 

books off the table, turned, and walked up to my room.  _Did I have 'fun?' What kind of question is that? He_

_ crunched his stupid Pocky all afternoon, he kept forgetting everything I showed him, he was_

_ himself…………Of course I had fun_.  I'd actually forgotten what it felt like to just hang out with Bakani.  I 

actually really missed it.  I feel really bad though that I've been so mean to Bakani lately.  I'll actually try to 

spend more time with Bakani from now on.  Okay, this is going to take a lot of work…

*************************

"Good morning Ame!"  Sasha's voice could be heard all the way at the other end of the school grounds 

it was so loud.  

"Good morning Sasha.  You look bright and cheerful this morning.  Did something good happen to you 

in the last 24 hours?"

"Oh Ame" Sasha waved a hand at me.  "You're a riot. No, seriously.  There's a new girl here in school 

and she's like, way, way cool.  We've been telling her all about you of course and everything she'll need to 

know for going to this school like how to wear the uniforms so that they look chic on us and when the best 

times for group clustering is and who to avoid—"

"Sasha!  Breathing is always a good thing to do."  I had the urge to almost roll my eyes at her.  Huh.  

Never had the desire to do that before.  "Who's this new girl?"

"Morning Ame! Guess what. Oh, you'll like, never guess so I'll tell you. There's a—"

"New girl at school."

"How did you know?" *sigh* Karena can be just a bit dense, especially considering that she's standing 

right next to Sasha The Gossiper.  

"Sasha told me just a few seconds ago."

"Oh." Karena turned to face Sasha and laughed.  "Well, I guess the early bird got the worm, right 

Sasha?"

"Oh like, definitely.  Well Ame, come on.  You have to meet Mykari. She's like, soooooo awesome, 

and she's dying to meet you."

"Okay" I let two of my friends drag me away and over to the little cluster of more friends. 

"Morning Ame.  How are you?"

"Morning Kiki.  I'm fine, how about you?  Is your cough better?"  

"Yeah. In fact it's pretty much gone." 

"That's good to hear." 

"Good morning Ame!"  I turned around to see Rika coming up to our small group.  Rika and I have 

known each other since we were babies.  We're ultra close.  Like me, she also gets slightly annoyed with our 

little group of friends at times.  But unlike any of these friends of ours, Rika is the only one who doesn't go 

goo-goo gaa-gaa over Kohiro and doesn't really have a problem with Bakani.  She's better then I am.  She 

can actually stand to be around him for long periods of time.  Funny that they're not really friends.

"Ame, I want you and Rika to meet Mykari.  She just moved here recently."  Kiki always had a 

problem when she wasn't the center of attention.  

"Hi.  You must be the famous genius Ame that I've heard so much about in the last 5 minutes or so."  

"Hi.  It's nice to meet you.  Yeah, I'm Ame and this is Rika."

Just then the bells sounded for school.

"Thanks Sasha.  You spent so much time taking to me this morning that we totally missed out on being 

with the group!"  We all had a good laugh at that one as we made our way into the school.  This day is already 

going great.  Hopefully it will just keep getting better.


	7. Chapter 4

Hey everyone, Kohiro here! You haven't heard from us in a while….well that's because things got really hectic

after our last posting and we've had to wait a bit for some of the other authors to have enough free time to write

their entry. Unfortunately, Ame was unable to add her entry to this one, but she will next time . And now 

I'm about to do something I've neglected to do a long time ago. Post answers to reviewers!! Sorry everyone. 

It's not that I haven't read them, I just haven't posted them. Thank you all for your support!

**melody-tune**-

Thanks a lot. We're glad that you enjoyed it!

****

**Bakani**-

Hellos -. Yay! it's up, it's up, it's up, it's up! Woohoo! ...that took forever sigh Gomen 

for the wait minna-san, hopefully the next 

chappie will be up faster (I already have my entry written, so that's definitely a good sign). And hold on to your 

hats readers because this story is gonna get interesting.. heeheehee. Kohiro, I love you! you post my insane 

ideas hugs Thank you to you, the other wonderful writers and the readers. And for any readers seeing this, 

please be patient: we have a very complex process to go through to get everyone to write... it can take a 

while -.- but the story WILL be updated. As soon as I can possibly manage, I promise! (oh and Kohiro? let 

me proofread Ame's entry next time before you post, k?)

****

**Pika**-

Y'know, what's sad? By the time this story is finished, we just might have more reviews from 

ourselves than from other reviewers. Hi y'all! I loved the chapter and where it's going! w00t! I thought this 

last chapter was great! I have two complaints though. The dialogues and monologues were great (and 

hilarious, by the way - Koori, you do the best sarcasm), but you need to describe your surroundings more. 

What happened with the pocky? Did Bakani eat it all or did he accidentally drop it? What was the crunch? 

Also, where was Koori before the one teacher came? Was he on top of the roof at school? If he was, why 

was he suddenly in the park afterwards? Distinguish and try to explain settings a little better. My second 

complaint would be the lapse in times. First, Bakani was over at Kohiro's and then was at home in the next line. 

Have a divider to separate the lapse in times. Other than those few things, the chapter was amazing! I don't 

know how I'll keep up to that level when I first come in. Please continue! Update ASAP! Arigatou!

****

**Ame-Chan's Author**-

Hey, Baka! What the hell did you mean by wanting to 'proof read' MY entries? There's nothing 

wrong with them. Nobody's done anything in any dream and trust me, nothings going to happen in real life. 

Anywho, the story's coming along really nicely. Ame's been a lazy ass and hasn't written her entry yet even 

though she's had everyone else's for about three weeks. sigh School sucks. Kohiro, you know I love you 

with all my heart but there is a reason why spell check was invented. Actually however, the mistakes put a nice 

ring around certain words. My favorite is how 'boring' the book is that Ame's reading about Japan's History. 

It's great. Anywho, I apologize to all of our faithful readers for the delay. Blame me, I'm lazy. Hopefully I will 

have a chance to type up Ame's entry this weekend. If not, I should have some time this up coming week. 

Oyasumi!

****

**DragonTamer9741**- 

Thanks! I hope you did good on your ACT. (I know what it's like. I had to take it too…)

****

**Sana**-

Thanks! Yeah, we've started coming up with a list of characters….It's not done yet, but when 

it is we'll post them.

****

**Naeda**-

I'm glad that this made you feel better! 

****

**Bakani() Shindou Bakani desu!**-

Hellos! I apologize terribly for the wait, I know it took forever to get this chappie up. If you like 

I'll find Sakano-san and have him rant "gomen"s at you. Anyway, I hope we'll never go this long without posting 

again looks VERY pointedly at Ame's writer anyway... Amazing job my fellow authors, i love you all! Now 

lets drag this craziness up a notch! v. WOOHO, i love this story . Well, all our 'main' characters are introduced, 

we'll all have an entry for every chapter (unless something comes up). and others will come in, but they'll just 

pop up from time to time. It will be interesting. I'll try and get the next round going soon 

as possible, I promise. Much love to all who happen to read this! Gravitation rocks! Bakani's author (I'm still 

bugging people about making a website so i can post my pics...) 

****

**Silvermagess**-

nodes head that was the main point of Koori's entry! And they do make a cute couple! 

(Now others are wondering who we're talking about! ) 

****

**Ame**-

Hey Kohiro. I finished my entry! Come on and all of em up now! Now aside from that, things 

are starting to move along nicely. I like, Author 3 likes, and...well thats about everyone. Anywho, As Ame's 

creator, I'm looking forward to see how this is going to turn out and that our readers are satisfied. I think that 

everyone is doing an amazing job at their entries. Later my peeps! heheheh, I feel special. I noticed that my 

last review was the first of the new year.

****

**KirbsterMK**-

Hold on….let me think…..no it's not coming to me… ; gomen!

****

**Naeda**-

Thanks for reviewing so much! 

****

**Vera-Sama**-

Don't worry, if it ever gets boring you let us know. Then again, I only need Koori for 

that….. ;.

****

**fanficlunatic234**- 

That's an idea, but it really depends on what all the different authors choose to do…. ;

**Bakani**-

"Let me go, Seven Days!" I sang to myself as I walked up to the front door. I stopped long enough to 

call "Tadaima!" as I entered the house, then continued with the cheerful song. I love Tou-chan's songs, though 

I can't sing them (or anything else) worth crap... No one can blame me for trying v....

...well, except Koori.

"Urusei Baka!!" He didn't look like he was in a good mood.

"Hello, little brother." I greeted. He raised an eyebrow at my silly grin.

"Why are you so giddy?"

"I dunno. Why are you so grouchy?" He glared at me and I sighed. "Okay, I'll tell: I went to Ame's 

house."

"And you're still alive?" He sounded a bit disappointed.

"Koori," I reprimanded, whining slightly, "don't be like that.... Actually, Ame was nice to me, nicer 

than she's been in a long time." The memory made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I smiled.

Koori's face darkened a little and became unreadable.

"So," I looked at him expectantly, "are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"

"No."

"Ehh? Kooori! No fair!" I pouted.

"Hn." He turned away from me and went up the stairs to his room.

"Jerk."

The next day, Koori stayed home from school sick. I guess that's why he was so moody last night, 

poor guy.

I spotted Ame with her friends and went to say hi.

"Ohayo, Ame." She opened her mouth to respond when one of her friends cut in.

"Go away Bakani." I gave her a reproachful look. Last time I checked I still had the right to exist, 

though lately it seemed these girls' attitudes denied even that. Then I spotted an unfamiliar face. There was a 

girl being whispered to by one of Ame's friends (probably about me) that I had never seen before. She looked 

at me.

"Uh, hello." I said, "I don't remember ever meeting you. I'm Bakani."

She stepped forward and looked me over as she responded in a haughty voice.

"Hanase Mykari. I just moved here." After examining me for a few seconds, she came to a decision 

and stared straight into my eyes with a look of disgust.

"What's your problem?" She demanded.

Taken aback by the sudden assault I could only get out "..huh...?"

"I asked 'what's your problem?'. I've been getting the full story on you... I've never heard of someone 

more pathetic." The other girls were snickering. "You follow this poor girl around like some demented stalker. 

No matter what she does you just won't leave her alone. I mean, come on, you're a short, whiny, annoying, 

stupid, clumsy idiot who's so effeminate that you barely have the right to call yourself a man! Hell, I bet you're 

gay. So why don't you just leave Ame alone before you drive her insane? Go find yourself some poor _man_

that might actually be able to tolerate you, and while you're at it go get your estrogen levels checked to see if 

there's a way to fix whatever horrible mutation turned you into such a crybaby, feminine creep." 

They were all laughing out loud now, not even bothering to stifle it. Ame stood silent, not looking at me, 

but not at anyone else either. Mykari smirked triumphantly.

'What was _my_ problem?' yeah right.... what was _her_ problem?! I hadn't done anything to her. Heck, 

I'd just met her! But then, I hadn't done anything to the others either....

They were gazing at her admiringly for her little speech.... so that was it: she played off their feelings for 

me to heighten her status in their eyes. She could cold-bloodedly rattle off such cruel words to someone she 

didn't even know just for popularity's sake. And she had just used me, labeled me as a tool to help her climb 

the social ladder. Because they hated me...

I tried to stop the tears, I really did.... especially after what she had said to me. But, as I turned away 

and headed down the hall, the mocking laughter still echoing after me, I felt their warm moisture on my cheeks.

Damn it all....

By the time I reached the classroom I was crying pretty hard. Kohiro immediately sprang from his seat 

and came to comfort me. I managed to tell him what had happened, and he reassured me in the way only he 

could. Kohiro is without a doubt my truest and best friend in the world. Through this whole sob session, our 

classmates kept looking at me oddly. As I calmed down and went to take my seat, I heard one of them mutter 

"gay boy...".

After school, I had cheered up again. I was going to the auditions for the play with Kohiro! Yay!! v

We went to the theatre and copies of the script were passed out to the auditionees. Despite Kohiro's 

urging, I didn't take one for myself, I decided to just read Kohiro's over his shoulder. Even though he wanted 

me to try out, I was too nervous to try it. I can't sing, draw, play music, or write well... what makes him think 

I'd do any better in this art?

It started. The director would call up a few students at a time and have them read/act out parts of a 

scene. The play was "The Fall of the House of Usher", a creepy E. A. Poe work. Along with the script, 

everyone had gotten a sheet listing and describing the characters. I read through it, and after I had that much 

knowledge it was fun to watch the different people act (or _try_ to act) the roles.

The audition neared its end and Kohiro still hadn't been called. He tapped me on the shoulder.

"Baka, can you hold this for me? I'm going to run to the bathroom."

"Okay." I took the script and he half-jogged from the room. Just then the director called out.

"Alright, last group! Sareno, Hirare, and Nakano."

"Ano..." I raised my hand, "Sensei? Nakano-kun is using the bathroom."

The director sighed. "What's your name?"

"Me? Shindou Bakani."

"Shindou. Fine... Shindou, I know you aren't on my list of students auditioning, but could you please fill 

in for Nakano until he returns. We can't run the scene with a character missing."

"Sure..." I got up. Flipping the script I found the scene and the part they wanted me to read. I quickly 

referred to the character sheet. Let's see... this guy was quiet, creepy, an evil, menacing sort of person.... heh, 

sounds like Tou-san 

"Whenever you're ready." This was directed at me because I had the first line. I glanced around at the 

expectant faces of my classmates, most of them waiting to laugh as I screwed up... no, can't think about it! I 

have a role to play.

I determinedly focused on the character. I got a feel for the type of person he was and surrendered 

myself to that feeling.

I took a deep breath and started....

The scene ended and the room was deathly quiet. I closed my eyes and allowed the character I had 

assumed to fade away. Nervously, I opened them again, and scanned the faces around me. 

They were all staring at me. Staring, and yet not a single one had the mocking or superior look I was so 

used to. ... Hey, Kohiro was back! When had he come back? It must have been during the scene, I was so 

caught up in it that I didn't notice. But why hadn't the director stopped me and let Kohiro take over?

Then, a sound broke the silence. Clapping... everyone, they started clapping... for me... o.o

I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head. But then I had to fling both arms out to stop 

from falling over as Kohiro practically tackled me.

"Bakani, you were amazing!!"

"I- I was?"

"My gosh, that was freaky. I knew that character was supposed to be scary, but man! Baka, you had 

me almost wetting my pants."

"I- I did?"

"You better believe it! It was weird, because you just looked so different. It wasn't you."

"Isn't that the point? I thought I was supposed to try and be the character."

"Yeah. And you _did_, Bakani. I'm not kidding you, that was awesome."

There was no escaping it. I hadn't been planning on auditioning, but I ended up signing up for it 

anyway. Everyone there would have violently mobbed me if I had refused. Kohiro got to complete his audition 

too, and did very well -. And though I had been against it before, I was starting to get a little excited about 

all this theatre business.

I could act?.....

Koori- 

I closed my eyes against the sunlight, grumbling unpleasant nothings. Normally I would use words like 

'gleaming', 'cascading' or good old 'bright'. Unfortunately, today was one of the days I doubted my existence. 

Well, not my existence exactly, I knew I was curled near the mass of sheets that was my futon because 

otherwise the damn brightness wouldn't hurt so much. No, this morning with its hateful gleaming-ness made me 

wonder if I deserved to be alive. 

I let my arm fall off my eyes dreading the light that would attack me. Instead I was greeted by total 

perfect darkness, I smiled. Wait a second….

"Who?" I muttered and jumped up. Perhaps 'attempted' to jump up is more correct. Although 

I did get halfway upright before flopping backwards with a groan. I heard a deep chuckle.

"Tou-san?" I asked. "Ah…what am I doing home? Don't I have school today?" I said. 

Tou-san didn't say anything but I could practically hear a smirk in the air.

"You've been called in sick." My Tou-san's deep voice hummed. I nodded, although I was 

fairly sure he couldn't see me.

"Thanks for getting the lights…" I wondered what else to say. I never really spoke with my 

father.

"Breakfast is downstairs when you're ready…unless you need my help?"

"NO." I sputtered quickly. "I …just need to do something on my computer." My door 

opened and my father exited.

"What would you like?" Tou-san's silhouette filled the doorway.

"For breakfast? Eggs, sunny-side up."

The door shut. I slowly dragged myself over to my computer. Was Tou-san ordering out? I shrugged. 

Thinking about my father was a lousy distraction, so instead I glared at the piece of paper on my computer 

desk. In a scratchy hand I'd written 'Gravitation: The Intoxication!' I turned the sheet of paper over and 

starred at the picture; the park where my parents had met. And where I had met…..someone. I shook my 

head to try and clear the image of him from my brain. I sneezed, then rubbed my nose. My hand reached 

my forehead and I blinked. I had a fever.

"That's why I can stay home…" I dragged myself back along the floorboards to my bed and 

collected a blanket to keep warm. I sneezed again.

"This is going to be a (sniffle) long day…"

(Scene change!)

After I finished posting my newest picture (drawn last night) on deviantart.com (I'm a critic, male) I 

padded down the stairs. I heard the banging of pots and pans, so I peaked around the corner, expecting to see 

a robber. Instead I saw my dad, slaving over a hot stove, resplendent in his pink apron. 

"Good morning Tou-san." I said loud enough to be heard.

Tou-san jumped a little bit and almost dropped the frying pan he was using. I resisted the urge to 

giggle, the last thing I want is a super-warm frying pan lodged in my brain. I'd never be able to get through the 

door!

Tou-san looked very….something. I sincerely hope I'm ten miles away before I figure out what that 

'something' is. I glanced at the table. It was perfectly set, with cut strawberries next to a pile of powdered 

sugar, Tou-san was currently making pancakes and my omelet at the same time.

When I glanced back up at Tou-san, he looked oddly…nervous. Like I'd caught him doing something 

naughty. Well for 'violently-silent' Eiri Yuki, getting caught doing 'domestic' duties is…well…naughty. For 

lack of a better word. I smiled reassuringly. 

"Can I help?" I asked politely.

Tou-san's tension melted and he smiled a genuine smile. It's been a long time since I'd seen Tou-san 

smile like that. I snatched the frying pan out of Tou-san's grip.

"Let's get going!"

I clicked on my username at deviantart, and this time it worked right the first time. I smiled at my dad.

"Thanks that's been bugging me." 

My Tou-san noticed what site I was on.

"What's this?" He asked quickly, voice a bit rough.

I winced. Now he chooses to get overprotective.

"It's just a site for me to post stuff that I draw and whatever. My friends from school 

convinced me too. Don't worry, it's free, and I didn't list any important information."

Tou-san still looked suspicious, even after my explanation, and I gulped.

"Uh…?" He blinked, as if just noticing something. "You draw?" 

I sweatdropped.

"Yeah…I'm not too good." Tou-san raised an eyebrow at me. "I want to be a manga-ka 

someday. You know, maybe work in video games or something…" I drifted off realizing what I had just said.

The hell?! It must be my fever taking, because I can't imagine myself telling my anti-social dad 

anything, especially not my dreams. My Tou-san didn't seem to care, instead he clicked the link to my gallery 

and started browsing, I sweatdropped. Poor Kaa-san, if he has to deal with this everyday. Stupid Kaa-san if 

he comes back for more.

Then my Tou-san clicked on one of my pictures that was of the ahem shonen-ai verity. I blushed 

when Tou-san turned to stare at me.

"And I'm….ma,….a little interested in Shojo…" I hoped my father wouldn't smack me for 

being so…famine. Sure, I was pathetic, but wrote the same sort of thing, right?

"A little interested?" He questioned, amused. I blushed deeper.

"Okay…a lot interested." I finished. Tou-san nodded and I thought he looked proud. 

Never….that can't be, can it?

"In that case, your design is terrible." I nodded.

"No shit." Tou-san started, then turned to glare at me seriously.

"And what are you going to do?" He asked.

"Improve. Duh." I said. 

Now Tou-san really did look proud. He smiled and hugged me.

"This calls for a celebration." He said.

"Now…what happens in here…"

"Never leaves this room. I know Tou-san."

"The last thing we need…"

"Is the Bakas to hear about this." 

Right. Shall we?" I smiled and handed Tou-san his 'Chobits' DVD.

"Fire away!"

(Ding Dong) I glanced at Tou-san in horror. His frightened look matched my own and together we turned to

the calendar. As we had both feared, today was the day our calendar had been marked with a blood read X. 

I shuddered.

"Come in? Stay a while? Sure!" A voice said from the door, breaking the creepy silence 

following the doorbell.

"AHHHHH!!" Tou-san and I screamed, running up the stairs together.

Quickly, we reached the bathroom and slammed the door. I sat down on the toilet in the dark, but 

Tou-san pushed me off. I fell into the tub.

"Is it really?"

"Katoru-chan? The one and only." I shuddered in the dark.

Suddenly it was too dark and too stuffy, so I scrambled under the sink for a Glade glow-in-the-dark 

thing. Success! I hurriedly plugged it into the wall, and me and father huddled in the feeble light.

"Tou-san…I'm scared!" Tou-san looked sick to his stomach.

"Shut up! He'll hear US!" Tou-san screeched the last word.

"Ah…Tou-san. You locked the door, didn't you?" Tou-san turned to stare at me.

"Fuck." He said simply. The door creaked open, which is ridiculous because Tou-san just got 

the hinges replaced last week….

"NOOOOOO…..!"

Tou-san shook me awake 

"Have a bad dream?" He asked me.

I sighed. I need to get more sleep, but I'm not sure I want to anymore.

"Yeah."

"I was going to let you sleep through, because you're sick, but it sounded brutal." He said. The 

doorbell rang, and I glanced at the calendar. Red cross.

"Let's just say I'm glad I sleep on a futon." Tou-san followed my glance. 

"I'll be in my work room if you need me." He muttered and was gone.

"No fair, I'm sick!" I called after him.

"You've never dealt with his father!" He shouted back. I shrugged.

"Fair enough." And headed over to the door. 

Welcome back, cousin Katoru…

Katoru- 

I stood on the porch and waited for someone to come to the door, but after about 2 seconds I tried the 

knob. Unlocked. I snickered and pushed the door open, grabbing my suitcase as I entered.

"Come in? Stay awhile? Sure!" I said to the empty room.

I set my suitcase next to the couch and took my leather coat, fluffing the fur lined collar as I placed it 

over my luggage.

"Katoru-kun…..is back!" I let loose a devious chuckle. "HELLO! I know you're in here 

somewhere! No one can hide from Katoru-kun!"

I heard a bang down the hallway.

"Mm hm…Katoru-kun is also hungry…..I'VE GOT A MIND TO RAID THE 

REFRIDGERATOR!!" 

I listened and heard a door open followed by, "NO! Anything but that!"

They both appeared at the entrance to the hallway looking somewhat panic stricken and out of breath.

"Got any Pocky?"

They looked at each other. "Uh…no."

I glared, they were obviously lying. Ah, I'll let them slide. 

"Well, get me something to eat or I'll get it myself!"

Kohiro-

I walked into class and sat down at my desk, trying to catch my breath. I had woken up very late and 

was forced to run all the way to school. I was very relieved when I found I had five minutes to spare.

'I bet Baka's gonna be mad that I didn't pick him up this morning…'

Sure enough, Bakani comes storming through the door, though I was shocked to see he was crying. 

Worried, I immediately took him to the corner of the classroom. Once there, I became aware of all of the 

people snickering at Bakani's outburst. I shot glares at all of them, and smirked with grim satisfaction when 

they stopped laughing and turned around in their seats to face the front of the classroom.

It took some doing but I finally got Baka to calm down enough to tell me what happened. Baka is 

known for overreacting, but I felt that his side of the story was pretty accurate. With a lot of effort I managed 

to hide my anger from Baka, by offering to take him to the auditions with me that afternoon.

During lunch, I managed to give Baka a feeble excuse to leave him at the table for a few minutes. If I 

had told him that I was going to talk to Ame, he would have known what I was up to right away. 

Ame was sitting with her usual friends on the other side of the lunchroom. Before I could even say a 

thing to her, a girl jumped up and introduced herself.

"Hanase Mykari, I'm new here! I've heard so much about you!"

I stared at her for a second and realized that this was the girl who told Baka off. I gave her a cold glare 

and then walked past, leaving her shocked, up to Ame.

"Ame, I need to talk to you." I said, ignoring the girls around me.

She seemed to have realized this from the beginning, because she was already standing. She followed 

me away from the loud lunchroom to a quite hallway. Just like before, Ame spoke up before I could say 

anything.

"How is he?" she asked worried.

I was taken aback by the question but recovered quickly.

"He's a little depressed, but alright. I talked him into coming with me to the auditions to cheer 

him up." I smiled lightly at her guilty look. "…and he's never blamed you for what happened."

"I didn't stop them…" She mumbled, looking down at the ground.

"It was enough for him that you weren't laughing with them."

She looked up a smiled. "Could you tell him I'm sorry for what happened?"

I gave her a strict look. "Oh no. If you want him to know, you're going to have to talk to him yourself!"

She glared at me and (acting normal again) punched me, somewhat playfully, in the chest, though I 

could tell she was holding back….or else I would've been on the ground. 

We silently went back to our own tables, and I spent the rest of the time entertaining Baka on some of 

the "adventures" the twins gotten into lately.

The last half of classes seemed to fly by when the last bell rang and we packed up our things. Baka and 

I headed off towards the auditorium, we were a bit early but it didn't matter.

I tried to get Baka to take one of the scripts they were handing out but he didn't want to so I didn't 

press the issue. We sat and watched as people were called on the stage and asked to do certain characters. 

I stepped out later on, to use the bathroom, but when I came back Baka was not at our seats but up on 

stage. He had not wanted to try-out so the only explanation I could come up with was that my name had been 

called while I was gone and Baka had been asked to take my place.

His eyes were closed as if he were concentrating very hard on something. When his eyes opened it felt 

as if he was a completely different person. He went through the lines smoothly as if he was truly that character. 

After he finished, that cold, eerie personality left as soon as it had come. There was silence all over the 

theater as everyone stared at Baka shocked… In the end, all of us talked Baka into signing up. Well…it had 

to of been the best thing that could of happened to him. I can't wait to see the look on peoples' faces when 

they see Bakani's acting ability. 

I walked up the steps to my house and walked in, already I could hear my dad playing his guitar.

"Tadaima!" I called as I removed my shoes and put my house slippers on.

The playing stopped suddenly and a reply of "Okaeri!" came from the living room where my dad sat by 

the fireplace with his guitar and my mom sat in the opposite couch. I sat on one of the couch's seats and 

answered their questioning looks.

"You're never going to believe what happened today…" 

**Kioku-**

_I know I'm new around here, but is this really necessary?_

Although I've spent a lot of my time playing games throughout my life, but I've never been to a real 

arcade before. At least, not on the scale of Neo Geo Land. The place was huge, with machines lining every 

wall. Bright lights flashed everywhere, and you could hear the clicking of buttons, the pounding of feet on dance 

pads, and the cursing of less fortunate competitors as they make their way to the change machines. I would say 

that I almost felt at home here…if it weren't for the glaring of the regulars.

Arcades have always been a territorial place. You find one place, set up a reputation, and it becomes 

your own "stomping ground". New people aren't exactly welcomed with open arms, and in order to get 

accepted as a regular, you had to prove yourself. Something that isn't easy to do, considering the fact that the 

regulars usually have had practice against a wide range of competition, especially in such a large arcade as this 

one. Considering the fact that I have barely played any games on a competitive level, my chances were next to 

nil…

_All the more reason to test the odds…_

I decided I would start with something fairly simple. After wandering around the arcade a bit, staring 

over a few shoulders, and getting a few more glares, I finally came across a large crowd. I began to squeeze 

through it, in hopes of getting a better view of what the commotion was about. I finally broke through…and 

found myself looking at one of the most ridiculous feats of flexibility I had ever seen in an arcade. The boy who 

was playing was no older than myself, but he was well built. Tall, with short hair and a powerful physique. He 

wore a school uniform, with the name of the school on the front pocket of his shirt. And he was wailing on the 

DDR pad. His feet were defying physics, whipping every which way at once without ever staying in one place. 

He would attempt to pull off cool poses during the breaks in the music, and even held on to the bar at times to 

enable him to use his hand on the pad. I would have almost been impressed, if he weren't so full of himself. 

Finally, the song ended, and he turned around with his fist in the air as his loving audience cheered him on. I 

merely gave him a condescending smirk, which he seemed to immediately notice.

"So, you weren't impressed by my little performance, pal?" He asked in a voice that grated the very 

inner workings of my brain. The crowd became a hush as they began to stare at me, the insolent newcomer.

"It was exactly that, a good performance," I quipped back, "but you shouldn't be playing to show off. 

This isn't about them," my arm made a quick sweep over the crowd; "It's about you. It's about playing what 

you enjoy playing, for your own fulfillment. Believe me, it would have been far more impressive if you were 

playing a song on HEAVY rather than Light, and actually attempted to push yourself."

His face turned red with rage. "If you think you're any good, why don't you step up and play me then!" 

he yelled. Shrugging, I stepped up onto the pad and inserted my yen. A few whispers began to travel through 

the crowd, as they all tried to understand why this newcomer is so desperate to get slaughtered. 

"Tell you what, kid, since you actually want to challenge me, you get to pick the song." he jeered. I 

scrolled through the songs until I found the one I wanted, and confirmed my selection.

"Wow, 4 feet!" he exclaimed. "You really are brave, aren't you?"

"4 feet on Normal, pal," I replied, "It's 6 on Heavy."

"W-wait…We're playing Heavy?"

"Of course," I said with a smirk, "What did you think?"

"Well…" he quickly regained his composure, "Well, I just figured that a scrawny guy like yourself 

wouldn't want to even attempt something as hard as Heavy, especially against a pro like me."

I stared him down for a minute, and he glared back at me, hoping to disguise his now shooting fear. I 

turned back to the screen, pressed start, and we began. 

The pulsing beat of the song filled the air, and a blaze of color flashed across the screen. Then the 

arrows began. There was a multitude of them, all scrolling onto the screen at once. I could almost imagine 

myself tripping over my own feet trying to do these motions. I shook the fear away quickly.

_One foot at a time…_

I began to stop. One foot at a time. Not think about the crowd, not thinking about the boy next to me. 

Just the arrows.

_One foot at a time…_

I got into a groove. Great, perfect, great, great, perfect. I slowly felt myself becoming calmer as the

song continued. Too bad the same couldn't be said for my opponent. Over the music could be heard his 

stomping, screaming and swearing. I smiled in satisfaction…only to trip up the next arrow. I quickly recovered 

before I could fall.

_Just listen to the beat…_

Giving myself a moment, I returned to my stomping. The arrows, although moving at the same speed as 

always, appeared just a bit slower to my eyes now, as my reflexes became more attuned to the music. Finally, 

the song ended. It was time for the judgment. My opponent and I stared at the screen in anticipation. For 

him…a solid, C…for me…an A. He became slack-jawed as he turned to stare at me. I simply stepped off the 

pad. The crowd around the machine parted, and I began to walk through. Then I let my pride get the best of 

me. I turned around, and, with a grin on my face, gave the other boy the finger.

"WHY YOU SUNNOVA…!"

He leapt off of the pad and ran after me as a dashed towards the exit. I took a leap over the change 

machine, charged through the exit, and slammed the door shut in time to hear a convincing thud as he landed 

headfirst into it. With a satisfactory nod, I started walking home…until I remembered something. The name on 

the front pocket of his shirt…

"Oh shit! He goes to my new school!"


	8. Ame's Author Note

Ame-Kun's Author –

Ohayo minna-san! It's 1 am where I am, so I'm allowed to say good morning. heehee. Anywho, ItAddams, I'm so glad

that you like Ame and Bakani together. I like them together too! :D (of course, I'm bias seeing as I AM Ame's author :p You

blame me?) ANYWHOS! PEOPLE'S! In my last mini-blurb, I said that I don't know who was in possession of the all-

powerful book that contained everybody's entries. Well, I know have it in my possession, so if nothing gets posted, blame

me ;D. . Bad college classes! Frying my brain! Well, look forward to updates! (I hope


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